Banana-shipping case.



N0. 808,313. PATENTED DEC. 26, 1905. P. SGHMITZ.

BANANA SHIPPING GASE.

APPLICATION FILED 0OT.27,1904.

2 SHBETS-SHEET 1.

No. 808,313. PATENTED DEC. 26, 1905. F. SGHMITZ.

BANANA SHIPPING CASE. APPLICATION FILED 001227, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Wineaaea I My" N @WM/M UNITED STATES FRANK SCHMITZ, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BANANA-SHIPPING CASE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 26, 1905.

Application filed October 2'7, 1904. Serial No. 230,168.

T0 (0% whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK SCHMITZ, a citizen of the United States of America, anda resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Banana-Shipping Cases, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in banana-shipping cases; and its object is to produce a device of this class which shall have certain advantages which will appear more fully and at large in the course of this specification.

To this end my invention consists in certain novel features of construction, which will be seen to be fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described herein.

In the aforesaid drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved device. Fig. 2 is a sectional perspective of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a fragment of one of the hoops. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of one of the hoops and the bag, showing the means used for tightening the bag. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section in the line 5 5 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the parts in a different position. Fig. 7 is an elevation of the bag with the upper and lower hoops in place, and Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing the adjacent ends of a single hoop.

Referring to the drawings, A A are a plurality of vertical slats of wood or metal, as may be desired, and B B are a plurality of transverse hoops, preferably formed of sheet metal stamped into a channel form, Fig. 3, and having flat portions 6 to receive the vertical slats A. One end of each of the hoops B has a keyhole-slot Z), and the opposite end has a rotatable key Z2 adapted to fit in the keyhole-slot. It will be obvious that the adjacent ends of the hoops can thus be connected together or released and that consequently the frame of the crate can be secured in a cylindrical form or rolled up, as desired. Two diagonally-disposed braces O brace the frame, so as to prevent twisting. The center hoop of the crate (indicated in the drawings by D) is preferably 'made of wood for the purposes which will hereinafter be explained.

E indicates the containing-bag of my improved crate. The bag is made from a flat blank of material and in the first instance is provided with a plurality of transverse plaits e, lying just above the places eventually to be occupied by the transverse hoops of the crate.

The material is then slitted vertically below the plaits and sewed into a cylindrical form of the desired size, which is smaller than the hoops. The hoops are then forced into the bag and, as illustrated, take a position just below the plaits. The plaits therefore make a narrow and very firm constriction just above the level of the hoops, which holds the main portion of the bag Well within the hoops. The slits permit the material outside the hoop to stretch to accommodate them. After the hoops are in position the slats are secured to the hoops, the securing means passing through the material of the bag. In this way a crate is provided the bag of which is sufiiciently within the frame to cushion the fruit, and yet all cords or the like for supporting the bag are dispensed with.

In shipping the empty crates their size can be greatly decreased by unlocking the ends of the hoops and passing one of the ends of each hoop through the slits in the bag, and the crate can then be partly collapsed, as illustrated in Fig. 6.

To give greater stiffness, a wooden hoop F may be provided at the bottom of the crate, and the slats may also extend across the bottom, if desired.

It is frequently the case that the material of the bag becomes considerably stretched in use, and the means for taking up this slack is illustrated in Fig. I. An ordinary nail can be passed through a fold of the material of the bag, twisted up, and driven into the wooden hoop at the center of the crate. This, it will be found, will take up any slack which may have accumulated.

The plait above the uppermost hoop, it will be seen, holds the loose end of the bag well within the hoop, so that in case a bunch of bananas extends above the frame it will be held out of contact with the uppermost hoop. The slats extend slightly above the upper hoop for the purpose of shielding the bag at this point, thereby preventing wear on the bag should the device he stood upside down.

I realize that considerable variation is possible in the details of this construction without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I therefore do not intend to limit myself to the specific form herein shown and described.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In a device of the class described, the combination with a frame, comprising longiof the bag being slitted outside the hoops to increase the circumference of the bag at these points.

In Witness whereof I have signed the above application for Letters Patent, at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, this 20th day of October, A. D. 1904.

FRANK SCHMITZ.

Witnesses:

CHAS. O. SHERVEY, KATHLEEN CORNWALL. 

